Finally building a new front deck

First had to get rid of the cement slab that used to be the front stoop because it really was only big enough for just a couple chairs

I had such a pretty yard until the guys decided instead of breaking up the cement slab that they would take it off and use it somewhere on the farm

You see how that worked out, tore up the yard, oh well, that's the way it goes when you try to fix one thing, you end up with two more to fix, it all gets done in time though.

piles of treated lumber for the new front deck

I didn't get as many photos because I was actually working and forgot

this level of the deck was done yesterday so we need to get to the lower level off to the right yet

Cousins gathering back in Grandma's rocks/woods

It's that time again, us cousins grew up living beside each other, we are like brothers/sisters more than cousins and we love to gather back in the rocks in grandma's woods, everyone brings a covered dish OR we just do dogs n burgers on the fire, sit around and catchup on gossip

 one cuz has a new wife

 and the sister has a new boyfriend tee hee remember that handsome neighbor

 yup this time it decided it would rain on us, that's ok we still had a blast as usual

Kids preparing for gathering Trash Can Turkey

The kids are helping get ready for a gathering here

and you can see all the plants started in the window, ready to be put out in the garden :) 

 Kota is making my awesome vegetable dip

all this for the dip? he asks LOL well ok not quite all goes into the dip

 doing what she does best ha ha

 trash can turkey!!!

 oh yeah, it was pretty good too

Drainage around house, cobblestone sidewalk

 Remember my sidewalk I built because I didn't like the mud it drug into the house, I wanted to take it all around this end of the house and meet up in front to the front porch?

 well I stopped because winter was on it's way, then we found out we needed drainage ditch around the house so never did anymore, figuring to hold off and finish it after the ditch was put in

it has worked great, that little sidewalk  and the hosta in my planting boxes are growing really nice

well you see that lovely hill behind our house, it really does allow a ton of water to run off, right down into where we park as well as around the house itself, and we have been getting water in the basement

you know what that means, drainage ditch around the house is top priority now, you can see I have prepared and removed all the plants that I had on this end of the house, they are now snuggled up in that new front flowerbed I just created

the poppy is from the lady Laner up the road, she was moving and said I could dig starts all I wanted, she didn't think they could be transplanted, well I dug some, and lookie there, they were happy enough to grow and bloom for me :)

just a pretty little egg basket I planted, such pretty bright colors with the pansies, lobelia, dusty miller and the clematis is growing into it now too

Raised bed under sweetgum tree & firepit

Today I am going to show you some photos taken during the raised bed project

first we had to remove the fire pit so the skid loader could get in there

 firepit rocks cleaned up and stacked elsewhere so we can get more dirt into that raised bed we made under the sweetgum tree

 you can see the bean tree is all down and the logs stacked

 lots of dirt from the farmer to fill in this area

 everything piled up during the process, that's the part I hate, the mess

 Dakota getting me some more dirt

 good job Dakota!

 he is becoming a master at that skid loader

 dad supervising

 about one more load 

 while they are bringing the dirt, I am raking it down

 there it is, all filled in, firepit put back in place and cleaned up finally, we even moved the woodpile!!

 with the railroad ties there, it's extra seating for around the firepit too

that old bed spring has my cukes growing up it